Class-A: South Bend Cubs Tie Series Against West Michigan Whitecaps

The West Michigan Whitecaps hopes of getting in and out of South Bend were shattered on Thursday night as the Cubs evened the best-of-three series with a 6-2 win. The Whitecaps will have to stay one more night as the deciding game is scheduled for Friday night at Four Winds Field.

Jose Paulino started the game for the Cubs and got into early trouble in the second inning. The Whitecaps would get on the board first after back-to-back RBI singles by Cam Gibson and Joey Havrilak. Paulino would settle in and not allow another base runner until the sixth inning. He would finish the night going six innings allowing two runs on five hits, while striking out two. The Cubs had an answer for West Michigan in the bottom half of the second, scoring two runs of their own and tying the game 2-2 on the strength of a sac fly by Isaac Paredes and a RBI double from Tyler Alamo. That wouldn’t be the last of Alamo.

Cubs Tyler Alamo. Photo by Mathew Carper/Legends on Deck

The score remained tied until the bottom half of the sixth inning, when Alamo took a pitch from West Michigan’s Toller Boardman over the wall to take a 3-2 lead. Alamo not really known for his power hit just five home runs in the regular season. That would prove to be the game-winning hit. Just to be sure, Matt Rose (who hit 17 home runs in the regular season) added a 3-run bomb in the bottom of the seventh inning off of Boardman to put the game out of reach.

Casey Bloomquist entered the game in the seventh inning for the Cubs and closed the proverbial door on the Whitecaps. His brilliant three innings of work secured the win for Paulino and continued South Bend’s Championship hopes sending the series to a deciding game three.

South Bend will send Adbert Alzolay to the mound to face West Michigan’s Spenser Watkins Friday night. Alzolay was 9-4 with a 4.34 ERA this season, while Watkins went 5-3 with an ERA of 3.82.

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In the past John has been a part of such successful sites as MetsMerizedOnline and MetsMinors.net.John was born and raised in upstate New York and has a love of all sports but mainly baseball. He has grown used to heartache with his teams as he roots for the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres too.John has a loving and understanding wife and is the the proud father of two amazing boys.He also loves heavy metal music.